Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Feast of St. Jerome, priest, monk, scholar


St. Jerome, of course, is best known for his translation of the Bible into Latin (known as the Vulgate) but when I was a little girl I first heard about him through the legend of St. Jerome and the Lion:
One day a lion came limping to Saint Jerome holding out his paw. On examination, Saint Jerome discovered that the lion's paw had a thorn in it. Jerome removed the thorn, cleaned the wound, and bound up the paw. For this, the lion was very grateful to Jerome. As a result, he took up residence at the monastery and even did chores.
This story mirrors, as you no doubt have noticed, the well known Aesop fable of Androcles and the Lion. The stories are illustrations of both compassion and gratitude.

3 comments:

  1. And they're both fables-which means no attention need be paid to either of them-or to their tellers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Or to you Mr. Evans...why do you even read this site if you are so cynical about it all?

    annie c

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't ask to be paid, don't wear foolish clothing or tell people what to do with their money.

    ReplyDelete

New policy: Anonymous posts must be signed or they will be deleted. Pick a name, any name (it could be Paperclip or Doorknob), but identify yourself in some way. Thank you.